Asymmetric alkylation of diarylmethane derivatives

Deprotonation–alkylation of prochiral diarylmethane substrates using sec-BuLi and (−)-sparteine has been carried out in excellent yields and up to 94% ee. A variety of enantioselective alkylations, silylations and stannylations have been performed on four different diarylmethanes. Surrogates for (+)-sparteine have also been applied in this study including a novel surrogate.